Hey Family!

I love science. I find it moving. One of the science films that I still talk about was a film where Dr. Spencer Wells used DNA to map out the journey that humans to took from place to place. They came out of Africa, across India, to Australia... and on... and on... We're one big family, dontchaknow. Now, there's an article at NPR about a new project to test 100,000 DNA samples.

"The amazing thing to come out of all of this is how closely related we all are," Wells says. "We share a common ancestor -- a man who lived in Africa around 60,000 years ago. That's only about 2,000 generations."

Eventually, those who volunteered their own DNA for the project will be able to go to a Web site to discover what Wells calls a "personal journey."

"You're going to be able to... figure out the journey of your Y chromosome if you're male, and the mitochondrial DNA if you're female -- the journey your ancestors took from those very early days in Africa to where you live today," he says.

Ahh!! Yes, you can participate in the study and trace your own ancestors' journeys!

Categories: Science, Links